“The Church of Nice” – NY Archdiocese Explanation of Obama Invitation

The flap over Cardinal Dolan inviting President Obama to the Al Smith dinner continues, and the explanation by a senior official with the Archdiocese of New York for inviting President Obama to the dinner left much to be desired. The last part of their explanation sounds like it is straight out of the Boston Archdiocese playbook:

The message is also that we can set aside our deeply-held differences and leave the partisan politics at the door for an evening, speak nicely and politely to each other, and work together for a common cause in the service of the poor.

Sound famliar? The key principle of the “Church of Nice” is to be nice and polite to each other and work for a common cause. To paraphrase what several commenters have said elsewhere, if we were in Germany during the Holocaust, would we “set aside our differences” and invite Adolf Hitler to such a dinner where we have nice, polite conversation, despite his role in the slaughter of millions of innocent people? Is being “nice and polite” to work for the common good why Cardinal O’Malley keeps Jack Connors around despite his support for pro-abortion political figures whose policies work against the mission of the Catholic Church? Is this why Cardinal O’Malley did not criticize Mayor Menino for his position that Chick-fil-A should not be in Boston because their leadership supports traditional marriage? The list goes on and on.

Play the ChurchMilitant.TV video below, or read excerpts below:

Here are some of the key points you should note from this video and a prior one:

The high-ranking NY archdiocesean official who responded said: “people need to take a deep breath, relax a second, and think carefully about this.” The tone is condescending and the implication is that anyone who disagrees with the archdiocese hasn’t thought carefully enough.

The archdiocese, through this official, is saying the “dinner is not a religious event in any way” because it’s administered by the Al Smith Foundation, not the archdiocese. Also wrong or at best, misleading. To suggest it is not a Catholic Church event is a lot of baloney. What this official fails to tell us is that ON the board of the foundation itself and head of the board is Cardinal Timothy Dolan. Auxiliary bishop Dennis Sullivan, Vicar General of the New York Archdiocese, is also on the Board. It has their seal of approval. To try and suggest there is some healthy separation between the Foundation and the Archdiocese is insulting. The money raised by the dinner goes to support the Archdiocese of NY Catholic Charities. The primary figure at the dinner is the Cardinal archbishop of New York. The Foundation’s board of directors has seats occupied by the two highest ranking clerics from the archdiocese, and the archdiocese heavily promotes the dinner and benefits from greatly from it. While it’s technically true is isn’t a religious event such as the Mass, it most certainly is a Catholic event. Catholicism is celebrated at the dinner, right down to the very reason for the dinner–that Al Smith was the first Catholic to run for president on his party’s ticket in 1928. So, it’s disingenuous to try and paint this as merely a civic event.

The NY archdiocesan official said “politicians who speak at the dinner are not getting any award or honor by the Church.” Though Obama is not being given an “award,” it most certainly is an honor to be invited to keynote a prominent dinner. Exactly what situation arises where someone is invited to speak at a fundraiser – as THE headliner – and it is not considered an honor? Do the organizers not consider it an honor when they extend the invitation? What is it to honor someone? It’s to call them out, set them above others, and call them out as someone worthy to listen to, follow, or emulate.

If the archdiocese doesn’t REALLY have that much to do with the event, then why did Cardinal Dolan extend invitations to the keynote speakers. Why is an employee of the archdiocese writing on the official archdiocesan page about it? Is the archdiocese in the habit of paying employees to write their own personal opinions on its page about things with only a passing relation to the archdiocese?

The official said, “When everyone wakes up the morning after, the struggle will resume.” This comment is perhaps the most grating of all, as well as the most telling. It says plainly and implies that the struggle can be broken from. Show us anywhere where the Blessed Lord, the saints, doctors of the church, fathers of the Church, and martyrs suggested you could break from the struggle. Why are we taking a break from the struggle? To hob-nob with the man who wants to strangle the Church? Do we really suppose his administration at the White House is taking a break from enforcing the wicked HHS mandate on the Church?

The official said, “we can still show respect for his office, and for him as a person, and treat him with civility. It gives us an opportunity to act as Christians, and show some love to our adversaries.” Again, a very telling comment. The implication is that to oppose him (Obama), is to somehow not show him respect. That to call him out for his death-dealing policies is to not treat him with civility. And that is showing love for our adversaries.

THAT, in one short phrase sums up EVERYTHING that has gone wrong in the Church in the past 50 years To speak the truth boldly and plainly is somehow not love. Love has been absolutely confused with the concept of being nice and politically correct. This distortion has allowed the leaders of Church to totally abdicate their roles as fathers who love and die for their children. Fathers say the tough things.

You want to talk about love and true charity? The most perfect way to demonstrate true charity would be to set an example for not only Barack Obama, who is trapped in his own evil and needs rescuing as well, but to lift up the spirits of tens of thousands, if not millions of Catholics dismayed and shocked over this and un-invite Obama. That would be a true statement of authentic charity.

In the “Church of Nice,” what else is there to see other than this weak-kneed statement by the NY archdiocesan official, “The message is also that we can set aside our deeply-held differences and leave the partisan politics at the door for an evening, speaking nicely and politely to each other.” There it is–at the end of the day, it all boils down to just being nice. The Church of Nice. Sacrificing our Lord to be nice.

Here is the petition to have Obama disinvited. Please sign it. For the sake of true charity, we ask Cardinal Dolan to rescind the invitation or, as one writer put it at RenewAmerica, “Cancel the Dinner.”

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This entry was posted on Saturday, August 11th, 2012 at 1:13 pm and is filed under Catholicism, Religious Freedom. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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After all the hype this week………….and the op ed opinion from Arch bishop Lori……….I am ready to give up. Thank God for His Son Jesus and Our Lady………because quite frankly YOU CAN ONLY PUT YOUR TRUST IN JESUS…………….Church militant for the Rosary is what I will now focus on and nothing else in the media. period…………….

Dolan used to wear a Cheese Head to Mass. He’s no Catholic. This is no surprise. Way to “fight,” Cardinal Dolan. He “joked” when he was in Rome being made cardinal that he would like to get out from under the oath to shed his blood for the Faith. Looks like he just found a way. Some joke.

I’m going to do a tag-team double feature. First, watch or re-watch my October 2010 YouTube video on “Niceness”. Then, watch today’s Vortex in which Voris DISMANTLES Dolan and the Archdiocesan orc mouthpice who has been tasked by Dolan with defending the indefensible – honoring Barack Obama, who is without any doubt or question, an antichrist. He isn’t THE antichrist, but is absolutely is AN antichrist.

The last three minutes of the Voris video are scathing and brilliant. Absolutely spot-on.

First me. Remember, this was recorded October 3, 2010, six months before I went viral. And here we sit, less than a year and a half later, and we are indeed staring squarely down the barrel of total civilizational collapse. The total collapse of the economy is now inevitable and cannot be prevented, the United States is going to collapse, taking the entire world with it into tyrannical oligarchy, and the Church is going to schism and become a client of that tyrannical oligarchy, led by the crypto-pagan Dolan himself, sending the True Church underground, and likely into a genocide.

Dolan is a politicking disgrace, a complete phony and an utter sleazebag. More on Dolan the man and his motivations later.

Now Voris, today. Like I said, the last three minutes in particular are must-see tee-vee.

I trust His Eminence Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s discretion in this matter. I see no contradiction in a Catholic organization which is meant to engage secular politics and the culture of death in inviting the President to a dinner meant to do just that. This organization, The Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation was founded to engage and effect secular politics not distance itself from it as St. Michael’s Media, the Vortex and Michael Voris has distanced themselves from the Catholic Church.

His Eminence has a reason and a plan. For my part, I choose to trust and support his decision. As usual, Michael Voris isn’t spot on, he’s dead on. Isn’t that why St. Michael’s Media had to change the name from RealCatholicTV? Who is truly guilty of condescension and baloney in this matter, the Al Smith Foundation or some self described Boston insider and Michael Voris?

Nowhere on their website do we find it written that they were founded to “engage and effect secular politics.” Where exactly did you get that from? Their purpose is described as bringing “hope to the neediest children of the Archdiocese of New York, regardless of race, creed, or color.” The dinner is “a living memorial to an uncommon public figure, best known as the first Roman Catholic presidential candidate.” Dismas, as best as we can tell, you are making stuff up, or you are confusing your personal opinion with facts.

Because your initial presumption is stated as fact and is wrong, unfortunately, your credibility is not so good with any other comments you make.

Still, we will address two more points you made.You said, “I see no contradiction in a Catholic organization which is meant to engage secular politics and the culture of death in inviting the President to a dinner meant to do just that.” Even if we allow that you may have meant to say you see no contradiction in the Catholic Church (which does engage secular politics and the culture of death) inviting the President to a dinner, and even if we were to allow that such engagement could occur (which is not at all the purpose of the dinner), you neglect to consider the guidelines by the USCCB which clearly state, “The Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.” Do you dispute that the dinner honors Obama, as a keynote speaker or gives him a platform that suggests support for his actions? Do you dispute the foundation’s own description of the event that says, “Many of past dinners have generated front-page news items as a result of the program”?

As for who you choose to trust and support, that is your choice. This blog has more than proven our credibility. Regarding RealCatholicTV and their name change, the same archdiocese that announced they were asking RealCatholicTV to stop using the word “Catholic” in their name never stated a specific concern publicly and acknowledged they have done nothing for 20 years about other institutions in Detroit, including a “Catholic” university in the diocese that regularly violated Catholic teaching but was permitted to retain their “Catholic” designation without interference from the diocese.http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/archdiocesan-canon-lawyers-differ-on-asking-realcatholictvcom-to-drop-cath/

Even if the name change was prompted by the Archdiocese of Detroit, Michael Voris has explained the name change from RealCatholic TV to ChurchMilitant.TV was inspired by Pope Benedict XVI’s May 22, 2012 Papal greeting to Cardinals when he said “Today the word ecclesia militans [Church Militant] is somewhat out of fashion, but in reality we can understand ever better that it is true, that it bears truth in itself. …Saint Augustine said that the whole of history is a struggle between two loves: love of oneself to contempt of God; love of God to contempt of self, in martyrdom. We are in this struggle…”

Before you post future comments here as objective statements of fact, could you do BCI and our readers a favor and either ensure they are accurate, or share as merely “my personal opinion” instead?

Twist it any way you like, but your premise and assertion that the purpose of the invitation of POTUS to this dinner is to honor him is blatantly fallacious, insulting and a malicious lie. Your article and the Voris video is nothing more than your own personal opinion and false witness. Your treatment of the members of the board of the Al Smith Foundation is scandalous.

There cannot be faith in the Holy Spirit if there is not faith in Christ, in his sacraments, in his Church. A man cannot act in accordance with his christian faith, cannot truly believe in the Holy Spirit, unless he loves the Church and trusts it. He cannot be a coherent Christian if he limits himself to pointing out the deficiencies and limitations of some who represent the Church, judging her from the outside, as though he were not her son.
(Christ is passing by, 128-130)

Well, that’s enough hits from me to this irrelevant website, no point in unworthily giving it any more attention than it already proves it doesn’t deserve.

Dismas, We do not understand your logic at all. You continue to make things up, and you fail to acknowledge the fallacies and inconsistencies in your own comments. Then you falsely accuse others of lying.

You were the one to claim the purpose of the Al Smith Dinner and the Foundation was to engage secular politics. We asked “Where exactly did you get that from?” and you didn’t respond to that point. We showed you in writing the purpose of the dinner which proved you wrong. So, then upon being proven wrong, you now spin a false accusation that BCI said the purpose of the dinner was to honor POTUS. Where did you get that we said that? Once again, you fabricated this. BCI never said anything of the kind. We stated the USCCB policy. We asked you a question. You are wrong again.

Read the Alfred Smith dinner website: http://www.alsmithfoundation.org/thedinner.html “Keynote Speakers: President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney” Do you somehow believe it is not an honor to be a keynote speaker at a major nationally publicized fundraiser dinner? Is it not an honor to be invited to dine with a Cardinal of the Catholic Church who is also President of the USCCB? The effect of the dinner is that the keynote speaker is honored and given a speaking platform. Do you also feel being the keynote SPEAKER at a major nationally publicized fundraiser dinner three weeks before the presidential election that generates front-page articles is not a speaking PLATFORM”?

You then say, “our treatment of the members of the board of the Al Smith Foundation is scandalous.” How? What did we say that is scandalous? We reported objective facts.

Is there scandal over the decision by the Al Smith Foundation board to invite Obama to the dinner? Objectively, yes there is. Who created that scandal? BCI? ChurchMilitant.TV? The 400+ people who have criticized the move on the Archdiocese of NY blog? If anyone created the scandal, it would be those who invited Obama.

You are writing comments here that have no logical or factual basis. Should you continue to do so, your comments will be moderated and/or removed.

Dismas, engage the substance, don’t just be snarky about Michael Voris and Church Militant TV. Your statement that Michael has distanced himself from the Church is a grave and vicious ad hominem accusation.
What is your definition of “engage”? Our purpose is to defeat evil. We “engage” in order to destroy. We do not engage in order to get along with evil. What is Cardinal Dolan’s reason, what is his plan? I’d be more than delighted to hear that he has an ace up his sleeve. So far, his spokesman has provided nothing but foolishness to defend this appalling dalliance with a determined enemy of the Catholic Church.

Louis, are you the writer of this blog? None of my comment is any more grave and vicious ad hominem accusation than anything found in this article. Who are you referring to when you say ‘we do not engage’ and ‘our purpose’, how many legion are you? The only evil you object to is any perceived evil excluding that of your own.

Dismas,
BCI does not know exactly who Louis is, but he is a reader of the blog, not a writer of this blog. You will know a response from Boston Catholic Insider when it is identified as such, like this response is!

BCI, I agree wholeheartedly that there is no way Obama should be speaking at the al smith dinner…If the HHS mandate was not being jammed down our throats, I would probably not be as adamant about him not being there.. He has been a horrible president and I pray for his defeat everyday…

just a couple of points to consider: the bishops have to be somewhat cautious in this political environment to not appear to violate any laws that could be applied to them ( unfairly i admit is a possibility but the reality is the current administration is the one in power so they control to a large extent the application ) in terms of IRS tax exempt status and such….I am not advocating that they should not speak loudly and without fear the truth…but if they are allowing Romney to speak, it’s possible that they could be opening up a lot of problems for the church….it’s also possible they would not be… all i’m saying is they need to be cautious.

also I would again urge the BCI caution in regards to hanging one’s hat on a guy like Voris…I am not condemning the man… but something about him i am not sure of… he was and in the absence of any type of clarification still is a backer of John Corapi who i Love , but admit was ultimately fooled by. Voris is a guy who blamed anyone and everyone for Corapi’s downfall except Corapi himself… i am not here to condemn Corapi but it should be obvious by now to all what the real deal was with him… Voris has never publically acknowledged his mistake with corapi which makes me somewhat nervous with him … he has also made some statements about government in the past that make me concerned about his approach to things…. doesn’t mean he is not on point about this issue.. but he is , as far as i am concerned, not a guy who should be blindly followed as it appears he is being by some here.

TIm Dolan is a good man…i hope Obama is somehow univited to this event… but if not, i am not willing to crucify Dolan on this

Thanks for your comment. We are in general agreement regarding your point about where we hang our hat.

As you have seen over time, we are not in the practice of hanging our hat on anyone. There are many topics of interest to BCI and/or to our readers, and BCI does not have capacity to thoroughly research and write original content about all of them. At the same time, often others have done a better job than we could have done ourselves, and we want to share that content with our readers. For example, when we read the explanation by the NY Archdiocesan official for the invitation to Obama, we wanted to write our own paragraph-by-paragraph response and/or start a petition, but did not have the time right away. Michael Voris did a very fine job, so instead of reinventing the wheel, we referenced the CatholicMilitant videos and petition. From time to time, other blogs, Catholic media outlets, or news services link to BCI or reference our content, and we do the same when we find other content of interest to our readers.

As for Cardinal Dolan and the invitation to Obama, we believe the criticism we and others are leveling against him is appropriate.

Trying to figure this out said:
the bishops have to be somewhat cautious in this political environment to not appear to violate any laws that could be applied to them … in terms of IRS tax exempt status … they could be opening up a lot of problems for the church …

Yes, that is a fantastic approach. I wish I had thought of it. Let’s run with our tail between our legs in fear of the big bad IRS and what some political figure might threaten to do to the Church. Because, as we all know, we are to bow down to the government and do as they tell us … or else … or else they will take away all of the goodies. Yes, great strategy.

Someone should have told Thomas More this. Someone should have mentioned it to Joan of Arc. Someone should have told this to Jesus Christ.

The IRS tax exempt status is absolutely worth keeping. To keep it, all you have to do is keep your mouth shut. Forget freedom of religion. Forget the God-given and constitutional right to freedom of speech. Do exactly what they, your masters, say, or you will be punished. What a standard!

Thank you so much for keeping us Catholics properly focused. Forget what God wants. Forget what the truth is. Forget what Canon law says about the laity’s duty to ensure that the Bishops and priests are properly leading the Church. No, the new standard is … how much money will they threaten to take from us?

What a pathetic statement. It reminds me of the exact opposite statement from one of our founding fathers, Samuel Adams:
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquillity of servitude than the animating contest of freedom–go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen!

I pray that “Trying to figure this out’s” chains will sit lightly upon you, as well. You have already become a slave without them even having to chain you.

I completely support rescinding the invitation to Obama. The dinner should not be canceled. That would send a strong rebuff to this mortal enemy of the Church.

The only question is whether Cardinal Cheese Mitre has the guts to do it. Based upon past incidents, I highly doubt it. He’ll be there fawning all over this Anti-Christ.

Parenthetically, I’ll add that Michael Voris is a powerful voice of fidelity to the Church and Her Magisterium. Contrary to Dismas’ baseless assertion, I think the name change was not a requirement by a local bishop of flaccid faith who could not have enforced his will in any event, but rather a voluntary act on his part to avoid the distraction of the USCCB peanut gallery’s caterwauling as Voris ramps up his battle against hierarchical apostasy.

“Tim Dolan is a good man”, said one commenter. Having lived in “Tim’s” Milwaukee fiefdom I’m not sure how I can respond to this statement. We didn’t call him “Tim” for one thing.

We did, on the other hand, call him a politician who said what people wanted to hear. Firm convictions were rarely if ever heard from his lips, unless they were firm convictions in support of the Green Bay Packers. On matters of the Faith, well, that was another story. We thought then, and still think today, that he is just another in a long line of mediocrities that the recent Popes have been sending out into the world. Do we pray that he will find some guts soon and start speaking in clear, strong language? Yes. But a man who is more concerned about appearing as the hail-fellow-well-met type, we have little hope that he will find the courage to do what is so critically necessary. Still, we hope and pray…and admonish publicly, as Catholics must do.

Not that I wish to read any more namby-pambyisms from “Dismas”, but he states that Dolan has invited this deranged despot to the Smith Dinner because he “has a plan”. Could Dismas enlighten us on what that plan may be?

I agree that Obama should be disinvited. He would still be objectionable for all he has done to promote the culture of death even without the HHS mandate. But the mandate makes it utterly clear that he is at war with the Catholic Church.
Peter Kreeft said it best in “Back to Virtue:” “We have reduced all virtues to one: being nice. And, we measure Jesus by our standard instead of measuring our standard by Him.”

My grandfather, James Percy Byrd, who ran Al Smith’s campaign for president, would take the Cardinal to the woodshed, as would my aunt, Sister Sister Sernea Branson, former Director of Catholic Charities in New York. I am glad neither one are here to witness this betrayal. I consider Dolan an enemy of the cross. Look to God. Period.

This is intriguing. I am an amateur scholar of history and I would very much appreciate any and all references to your grandfather’s participation in Mr. Smith’s campaign. I do note that you posted a similar citation on Deacon Greg Kandra’s blog when he was on Beliefnet.

I commend you on your fidelity to your family tradition. I hope that we can establish a foothold by which Cardinal Dolan’s apostasy can be exposed, since this harks back to the origin of the honour to Al Smith, and its more recent sullying by Cardinal Dolan.

Maria,
I’m also intrigued. I thought millionaire businessman, John J. Raskob, ran Al Smith’s campaign for President in 1928. There are a lot of people involved in a campaign, so I’d also appreciate any references to your grandfather’s work in Al Smith’s campaign.

Maria, thank you for speaking out. I am copying below a post I made when i first read that Archbishop Lori was okay with this slap-in-the-face to women invite by Dolan:

Et tu, Brute?

Archbishop Lori of all people? Please Archbishop Lori, I know you are a good man, but please see that others are not, and I am closer to believing that C. Dolan is not. His inviting Obama is just another display of his flippant attitude towards women–he is a borderline misogynist! He is certainly no scholar, a poor speaker, and when in his presence, there is nothing genuine about him. (Unlike you!)

Please see this brilliant discussion by Gloria Purvis on the mandate and how demeaning it is to women (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvoBPVsjdog&feature=related) and please start to see how the young, faithful women feel. They are out there, tens of thousands of them, but they are silenced by the ugly pervasive shadow of bitter old spinster women academics and old liberal confused nuns.

@Freda
“It is a matter of real fear and concern.. The institutional c[h]urch has a year — but not the laity.”

Freda – thank you for stating this. C. Dolan has NO IDEA (whether he intentionally ignores faithful women’s concerns or is just so out of touch with reality here on the ground for faithful women) how the young, gifted, educated women are faced with leaving professions in health care after years invested in their education and residency now knowing it is not long before they are forced out by old white women and old white men bent on making them perform abortions (not to mention provide abortifacients) and now their own Church hierarchy is expediting the process? SHAME on you C. Dolan!

@joxxer
“Actions speak louder than words. The message that this invitation will send to Catholics ignorant of Obama’s policies— is a message of approval”
-I submit to you that THIS IS C. Dolan’s sole intention! If R&R win, his limelight FADES A BIT, doesn’t it? Think about it.

The only other explanation that flies is they have something on him, and if this is so, please C. Dolan, just set us free and leave, and go preach in a country like Syria where your presence can’t hurt young women any more than they are already being hurt there.

I pray that through the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe that the true, good shepherds are strengthened, and that she assist in exposing those that are not. Archbishop Lori, I know you are one of the good ones. While I apologize for the intensity and crudeness of the above statements, I urge you to please, please, consider them, and reconsider your approval of this repugnant affront to women and to all the faithful laity. Please.

Dolan breaking bread with Obama given his very clear stated positions on abortion is an outrage to authentic Catholics. The blood of these holy innocents splashes at this Bishops feet. There are not words sharp enough to describe the betrayal.

I heard Fr. Pavone in a homily explain the connection between the incarnation and the sanctity of human life. Abortion is not some ‘medical procedure’ the Church has a problem with, it is infanticide.

Ironically, Father Pavone uses comments by Cardinal Dolan (“lawsuits are the best way to fight Obamacare”) for PFL’s fundraising purposes. Lawsuits are not the best way to fight AND raising money off of Dolan is also a joke.

Obamacare is a legislative issue, well beyond PFL influence. When the abortionists metal instruments cut into human flesh inside a woman it is a moral one. I defend PFL fundraising practices that brings teaching on the reality of abortion to our culture. Thank God for the work they do.